Friday, December 16, 2016

I've always liked Baker's better than Booker's bourbon. Named after Jim Beam's grandnephew, Baker's has always been bottled at 107 proof and at 7 years of age. I do hope those two factors remain in future Baker's bottlings, but who knows. In addition to the recent Booker's announcement, Beam removed the 9yo age statement from Knob's Creek this year, took away the 8yo statement on Jim Black a year before, and OGD 114 may be disappearing next year. So what awaits Baker's?

Well, it awaits a Taste Off here. I took Booker's batches C05-A-12 and 2015-06, proofed them down to 53.5% and let them sit for a day. Then I lined them up next to Baker's batch B90-001 (a batch number that hasn't changed for several years) to see what worked best at that ABV.

With 5 additional drops of waterBaker's - The nose is slightly more floral, nutty, narrower. The palate gets a spicy rye edge to it, along with vanilla frosting. Holds onto the savory note. The finish is similar to the palate.Booker's C05-A-12 - The nose gets more desserty (sugar and corn syrup) with a side of barrel char, then out of nowhere it's all peanuts. The palate gets very sweet. Otherwise it's bitter, nutty, and full of floral soap. It finishes nutty, peppery, perfumy and bitter.Booker's 2015-06 - The nose is very corny, like polenta. Then vanilla, Play-Doh and molasses. The palate is mild, with small notes of vanilla, caramel, ginger beer, and sawdust. Nuts and sawdust in the finish.Winner: Baker's, again 2015-06 isn't too far behind.MORE WORDS
That Baker's was the overall winner didn't come as a surprise to me, but there were two revelations. Firstly, Booker's 2015-06 wasn't that far off in my esteem when proofed down, and if I were to consider how it registers at full proof, it's probably about even with Baker's. Secondly, I wasn't terribly thrilled by any of these three whiskies. I thought I'd be doing a whole writeup about how awesome Baker's is, but......it's perfectly fine bourbon, nothing more. Though it does tend to be cheaper than Booker's in bars, I'm in no hurry to buy another bottle of Baker's any time soon.

Booker's batch C05-A-12 is flat out fugly when proofed down. I think that kind of broke my spirit. My palate is still messed up from it, 7 hours later. Don't be surprised if this is the final BARD Friday of 2016. BARD Friday will start up again in January. In the meantime, there are a couple of other spirits I have in mind for the last two Fridays of this year.

(Note: the two Booker's ratings will not change)

Baker's 7 year old, batch B09-001Availability - All US specialty retailers, as well as many non-specialty retailers (depending on your state)Pricing - $40-$60Rating - 83